Slaughterhouse welfare monitoring for poultry has been transformed by mandatory CCTV requirements in several countries, providing continuous oversight of stunning, handling, and slaughter processes that protect bird welfare at the end of life.
Poultry slaughter welfare has historically been difficult to monitor because the high throughput of modern facilities and the rapid pace of operations make real-time inspection by humans unreliable. CCTV requirements change this by creating continuous records that official veterinarians can review retrospectively. The deterrence effect of monitored environments has been shown to reduce welfare incidents even before enforcement action is needed. Higher welfare stunning systems including controlled atmosphere killing reduce the risk of birds being ineffectively stunned before slaughter. Slaughter welfare is the final welfare decision in the life of a farmed animal and deserves as much attention as housing and husbandry.